Madison Titans win at 2026 Master’s Southeast Zone Swimming Championships
AUBURN – The “Southeast Zone” Masters Swimming Championships were contested at the Auburn University Swim Stadium on Feb. 14-15, and the Madison Titans claimed a landslide victory out of the 39 teams competing. The “Southeast Zone” comprises of eight southeastern states: North and South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
The Madison Titans claimed their third victory from the past four years, scoring 2074 points, with the other top-5 teams scoring 1105 (Auburn Masters), 1057 (Georgia Masters), 824 (Gulf Coast Pirates), and 544 (Mobile Masters).
Titans Head Coach Roger von Jouanne noted “The Auburn Meet is the focal competition for our team every year, and in recent years we’ve clearly established ourselves as the team to beat. This year there was so much flu going around, and we really experienced God’s blessing over the weeks prior to the competition, as every one of our swimmers recovered and we were all healthy for the meet!”
Masters Swim Meets are contested in age groups for both genders spanning every five years, with the exception of the youngest age bracket spanning seven years (ages 18-24). For the Zone Championship Meet, individuals were allowed to compete in four events per day over the two-day meet, with the top eight in every event scoring points (nine points for first place, and then 7,6,5 down to one point for 8th place).
Six Madison Titans emerged as top-point-scorers in their age brackets: Rebekah Cline had three first-place finishes and five second-place finishes to claim the Women’s 1824 trophy, Erin McCann won eight events to claim the Women’s 25-29 trophy, Russel Johnson won seven events and took one second- place finish to claim the Men’s 30-34 trophy, Heather Koehler took 6 first-places to claim the Women’s 50-54 trophy, Dave Berry won 8 events to claim the Men’s 65-69 trophy, and Gail Reinecke won 8 events to claim the Women’s 70-74 trophy.
A host of additional Titans were runners-up in their age brackets: Ella Williamson (Women’s 18-24), Jeffrey Robinson (Men’s 18-24), Brooke Green (Women’s 25-29), Byron He (Men’s 25-29), Teresa Berry (Women’s 30-34), James Copeland (Men’s 30-34), Hayley Hatfield (Women’s 35-39), Tyson Littenberg (Men’s 40-44), and Roger von Jouanne (Men’s 60-64).
According to Coach von Jouanne, the Titans Team Records “took a beating”, as 19 different Titans broke a total of 71 records in their respective age brackets. Record-breakers were led by Terri Krings and Dave Berry, each claiming the maximum of eight records, followed by Haley Hatfield, Jeffrey Robinson, and Russel Johnson with 7 Titans Records apiece. “Our team-records are legit, and we can’t expect to break over 50 records each year, so this meet represented a ‘high-watermark’ in the history of our program.”
Madison Titans Records are posted on the bulletin board at the Dublin Pool in Madison.
The Madison Titans officially became a team in 2002, under the umbrella of United States Masters Swimming (an organization with over 60,000 members and 1500 registered teams). The Titans have been training and competing steadily since that time, with the majority of Titans practices occurring at the Dublin Pool (either at 6 am or around noon, every weekday). Any swimmers interested in joining an organized practice, experiencing camaraderie with other swimmers, and receiving technical instruction, are welcome to attend practices. The Titans charge no membership fees, and simply pay the Dublin admission fee.
